Swimming aid with adjustable buoyancy



June 30, 1964 BERGENS 3,138,809

SWIMMING AID WITH ADJUSTABLE BUOYANCY Filed Feb. 28, 1962 Bill Bergens IN VENTOR.

BY ym, 25m

United States Patent M 3,138,809 SWIMMING AID WITH ADJUSTABLE BUOYANCY Bill Bergens, 7467 SW. 21st St., Coral Gables, Fla. Filed Feb. 28, 1962, Ser. No. 176,335 5 Claims. (Cl. 9-339) This invention relates to a novel and useful swimming aid which is designed primarily for providing progressively less supplemental buoyancy as a beginning swimmer becomes more skilled in swimming.

The swimming aid of the instant invention is constructed of a water-tight elongated hollow and inflatable tubular member which is longitudinally curved and has a generally semi-circular side outline defining opposite sides which generally parallel the medial plane of the curved tubular member. By being generally semi-circular in configuration, the tubular member may be utilized to encircle approximately one-half the waist of a swimmer and has strap members secured to its opposite ends. The free ends of the strap members may be tied together in any conventional manner so as to secure the tubular member about the waist of a beginning swimmer. If it is desired, should the beginning swimmer be completely inexperienced and have a comparatively high specific gravity, the swimming aid may be utilized to encircle the front portion of the waist. However, if the swimmer has more natural buoyancy and has been at least familiarized with the basic fundamentals of swimming, the tubular member may be utilized to encircle the back of the waist of the swimmer. In this manner, as the beginning swimmer attempts to swim in a face downward position, his midportion or torso will be buoyed upward toward the surface of the water by means of the inflatable tubular member.

The tubular member is provided with a quickly operable inlet and outlet valve assembly which is disposed at a point generally equally spaced from the opposite ends of the tubular member and'on one side thereof. The valve assembly is provided with means for admitting and discharging air from the interior of the tubular member and the valve assembly includes a quickly operable actuator which is of the push-pull type.

The main object of this invention is to provide a swimming aid which may be utilized to provide the exact amount of supplemental buoyancy desired.

A further object of this invention is to provide a swimming aid which may be utilized in a manner whereby the supplemental buoyancy provided thereby may be progressively lessened as the beginning swimmer becomes proficient.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a generally semi-circular, inflatable and hollow tubular member whose end portions are flattened so as to conform to the sides of the wearer.

A final object to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a swimming aid in accordance with the preceding objects which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and easy to use so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, long-lasting and relatively trouble-free in operation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a beginning swimmer with the swimming aid of the instant invention secured about the rear of the waist of the swimmer;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the swimming aid; and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken 3,138,809 Patented June 30, 1964 substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 33 of FIGURE 2.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings the numeral 10 generally designates the swimming aid of the instant invention.

In FIGURE 1 there may be seen a swimmer generally referred to by the reference numeral 12 about whose waist 14 a swimming aid 10 has been secured.

A swimming aid 10 comprises a fluid-tight, elongated and hollow inflatable tubular member generally referred to by reference numeral 16 which is longitudinally curved or arcuate and has a generally semi-circular side outline defining a pair of opposite sides 18 and 20. In fact, a tubular member 16 may be formed of a pair of tubular half sections defining the opposite sides 18 and 20 from any suitable material such as plastic and joined together along adjacent edge portions in any convenient'manner such as by heat welding.

A pair of opposite end tabs 22 and 24 are secured to the opposite ends of the arcuate tubular member 16 and it will be noted that the opposite ends of the tubular member 16 are cut on the bias, along a line generally perpendicular to the arcuate inner and outer marginal edge portions of said arcuate member, so as to enable the ends of the tubular member to be radially flattened and the then superposed edges of each end to be secured together in side-by-side relation forming opposite end portions of the arcuate tubular member 16 which are flattened and disposed at generally right angles to the medial plane of the tubular member 16. In this manner, the opposite ends of the inner marginal portion of said arcuate tubular member will tend to be straightened and the opposite ends of the outer marginal portion of said arcuate tubular member will tend to be curved more sharply thereby forming inner opposite end flattened portions and outer bulbous or swelled portions on the opposite ends of said arcuate tubular member.

A pair of strap members 26 and 23 each have one end secured to the corresponding end tab in any convenient manner and the free ends of the strap members 26 and 28 may be knotted as at 30 to secure the tubular member 16 about the waist 14 of the swimmer 12.

The tubular member 16 includes an inlet and outlet Valve assembly generally referred to by the reference numeral 32 and the valve assembly 32 includes a push-pull type actuator 34 which may be pulled outwardly to vent the interior of the tubular member 16 with the ambient atmosphere and pushed inwardly so as to terminate communication of the interior of the tubular member 16 with the ambient atmosphere and prevent air from escaping from the interior of the tubular member 16.

The placement of the valve assembly 32 is very important and as can be observed from FIGURE 1 of the drawings, the valve assembly 32 is disposed at a point spaced generally equally from the opposite ends of the tubular member and on one side thereof. The valve assembly 32 therefore projects away from the tubular member 16 toward the neck and shoulders of the swimmer 12 thereby making it practically impossible for the swimmer himself to pull the actuator 34 outwardly in order to discharge air from the interior of the tubular member.

In operation, the tubular member 16 may be secured about the waist 14 of the wearer 12 as indicated in FIG- URE 1 of the drawings. When the swimmer assumes a generally horizontally disposed position with his face downward, substantially all of the tubular member 16 will be disposed beneath the water 36. However, as can be seen from FIGURE 1 of the drawings, as the swimmer becomes more proficient, the intermediate or upper portion of the tubular member 16 will project above the water 36. An instructor in charge of a class of several swimmers may therefore readily ascertain when it is desirable to discharge more air from each tubular member 16 worn by the swimmers of his class. As a swimmer becomes more proficient and his waist 14 is continuously disposed closely adjacent the surface of the body of water 36, small quantities of air may be discharged from the interior of the tubular member until such time as the swimmer 12 is being afforded very little supplemental buoyancy by means of the tubular member 16. At this point, a tubular member 16 may be discarded and the swimmer 12 will be ready to advance into the class of more proficient swimmers.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A swimming aid for use in providing the desired amount of supplemental buoyancy for a beginning swimmer, said aid comprising a fluid-tight elongated hollow, inflatable and longitudinally curved tubular member having a generally semi-circular side outline and defining opposite sides thereof generally paralleling and disposed on opposite sides of the medial plane of said curved member, said curved member including opposite end edges disposed in planes generally paralleling the corresponding radii of said curved member disposed at opposite ends thereof, means for admitting air into said tubular member and discharging air therefrom, strap means carried by the opposite ends of said tubular member and adapted to secure said tubular member to a swimmers mid-portion with said member disposed across and embracing the small of the swimmers back, the remote ends of said curved member being radially flattened and the inner and outer edge portions of each end of said curved member being sealingly secured together along a line disposed substantially perpendicular to said medial plane whereby the opposite ends of the inner marginal peripheral portion of said tubular member will tend to be straightened and the opposite ends of the outer marginal peripheral portion of said tubular member will tend to be curved more sharply thereby forming inner opposite end flattened portions and outer bulbous portions on the opposite ends of said tubular member, said flattened inner end portions being readily transformed into cylindrical portions conforming exactly with the contour of the adjacent portions of the waist of the swimmer about which said aid is secured and to increase the comfort of the swimmer wearing the swimming aid while also simultaneously increasing the total area of contact between the swimming aid and the skin of the swimmer for reducing the possibility of the swimming aid slipping about the waist of the swimmer.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein each end of said tubular member includes an end tab secured thereto along said line and including a free edge portion to which one end of the corresponding strap means is secured.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said means for admitting air into the interior of said tubular member comprises a quickly operable inlet and outlet valve assembly carried by said tubular member and including means for admitting air into said member and discharging selected quantities of air therefrom, said valve assembly being disposed at a point generally equally spaced from the opposite ends of said member on one of said sides thereof in a position spaced approximately equally from the inner and outermost peripheral edge portions thereof, said strap means being further adapted to secure said tubular member to a swimmers mid-portion with said one side of said member facing toward the shoulders of the swimmer.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said valve assembly includes a movable push-pull operator movable toward and away from said plane and disposed inwardly of its outermost position when in the closed position.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said push-pull operator projects outwardly of said valve assembly and may therefore be readily actuated.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,538,627 Di Lauro May 19, 1925 1,556,339 Marengo Oct. 6, 1925 1,850,660 Coppel Mar. 22, 1932 2,118,165 Christopher May 24, 1938 2,502,301 Alderfer Mar. 28, 1950 2,800,666 Allenbach July 30, 1957 2,859,932 Mackal Nov. 11, 1958 

1. A SWIMMING AID FOR USE IN PROVIDING THE DESIRED AMOUNT OF SUPPLEMENTAL BUOYANCY FOR A BEGINNING SWIMMER, SAID AID COMPRISING A FLUID-TIGHT ELONGATED HOLLOW, INFLATABLE AND LONGITUDINALLY CURVED TUBULAR MEMBER HAVING A GENERALLY SEMI-CIRCULAR SIDE OUTLINE AND DEFINING OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF GENERALLY PARALLELING AND DISPOSED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE MEDIAL PLANE OF SAID CURVED MEMBER, SAID CURVED MEMBER INCLUDING OPPOSITE END EDGES DISPOSED IN PLANES GENERALLY PARALLELING THE CORRESPONDING RADII OF SAID CURVED MEMBER DISPOSED AT OPPOSITE ENDS THEREOF, MEANS FOR ADMITTING AIR INTO SAID TUBULAR MEMBER AND DISCHARGING AIR THEREFROM, STRAP MEANS CARRIED BY THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID TUBULAR MEMBER AND ADAPTED TO SECURE SAID TUBULAR MEMBER TO A SWIMMER''S MID-PORTION WITH SAID MEMBER DISPOSED ACROSS AND EMBRACING THE SMALL OF THE SWIMMER''S BACK, THE REMOTE ENDS OF SAID CURVED MEMBER BEING RADIALLY FLATTENED AND THE INNER AND OUTER EDGE PORTIONS OF EACH END OF SAID CURVED MEMBER BEING SEALINGLY SECURED TOGETHER ALONG A LINE DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO SAID MEDIAL PLANE WHEREBY THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE INNER MARGINAL PERIPHERAL PORTION OF SAID TUBULAR MEMBER WILL TEND TO BE CURVED MORE SHARPLY THEREBY FORMING INNER OPPOSITE END FLATTENED PORTIONS AND OUTER BULBOUS PORTIONS ON THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID TUBULAR MEMBER, SAID FLATTENED INNER END PORTIONS BEING READILY TRANSFORMED INTO CYLINDRICAL PORTIONS CONFORMING EXACTLY WITH THE CONTOUR OF THE ADJACENT PORTIONS OF THE WAIST OF THE SWIMMER ABOUT WHICH SAID AID IS SECURED AND TO INCREASE THE COMFORT OF THE SWIMMER WEARING THE SWIMMING AID WHILE ALSO SIMULTANEOUSLY INCREASING THE TOTAL AREA OF CONTACT BETWEEN THE SWIMMING AID AND THE SKIN OF THE SWIMMER FOR REDUCING THE POSSIBILITY OF THE SWIMMING AID SLIPPING ABOUT THE WAIST OF THE SWIMMER. 